Resurgence
by Delta Zephyr
Summary: Two years and twelve days after the Normandy's destruction, Commander Shepard returns. However, the resurgent Hero of the Citadel must now, not only build a new team, but also face his inner fears, if he is to defeat the Collectors.
1. Last Flight of the SSV Normandy

**A/N: This begins with with Mass Effect 2 and continues on into the unknown. For the moment it is rated T, but there is a high possibility the rating will change in the future as the story progresses. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect or any of its characters, Bioware and Electronic Artist do.**

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><p>Nearly six thousand light years away from Earth, inside the Omega Nebula star cluster, in the Amada System, near the planet of Alchera, the Systems Alliance stealth frigate, SSV <em>Normandy<em> decelerated from FTL speeds. The _Normandy_ gracefully moved through the system.

Down in the engineering deckon the _Normandy_, former Citadel Security Officer Garrus Vakarian, was busy completing the repairs of the M35 Mako IFV, the old Mako had been trashed during its exit out of the Conduit on the Presidium and had been damaged by geth forces on Ilos. This Mako had received a heavy beating from a trio of geth Colossi; something Garrus had been less than pleased about.

The turian paused from his almost complete repairs of the vehicle to look around the empty engineering bay. Over near the port side of the ship were the team's lockers and a table that at several disassembled weapons ranging from pistols to sniper rifles. This was where the late Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams was, when she wasn't on a mission with Shepard or when the _Normandy_ was in transit.

Garrus still remembered Shepard's face, when he saw the nuclear blast on Virmire from orbit. He knew Shepard had taken Williams' death harder than the rest of the team, even Lt. Kaiden Alenko, who had been wounded by Saren's geth forces. Garrus shook the image of Ashley Williams from his head, and looked over to an empty space in between the lockers and a pile of crates.

Apart from Williams, Urdnot Wrex was the only other team member not present on the _Normandy_, unlike Williams, however Wrex was still alive. He departed from the _Normandy _after Saren's defeat and _Sovereign's_ destruction. The only other member of the team that was left on the same deck as he was Tali'Zorah who was still on her Pilgrimage, despite obtaining her gift for the Migrant Fleet, remained on the _Normandy _for the time being.

Liara T'Soni and Kaiden Alenko both remained on the _Normandy_ as well. Garrus shook his head as he proceeded to finish some calibrations on the Mako's turret. In the engineering room Tali'Zorah nar Rayya was busy checking the drive core's status. Not far from her was Engineer Adam, the Chief Engineer of the SSV _Normandy_, who was busy updating the status report on the ship's Tantalus Drive Core. Adams smiled as he looked at the young quarian; he had never served with someone as talented as her, not even when he served on the cruiser_,_ SSV_ Tokyo._ He had to hand it to the young engineer, he had learned more about the _Normandy_'s engines, than what he was originally briefed on and had even picked up a few quarian engineer techniques, for engine repairs.

One deck above the engineering deck, Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko was in the medical bay, getting examined by Dr. Chakwas, the_ Normandy_'s chief medical officer. While Kaiden was with Dr. Chakwas, in the room behind the med bay, the young asari archaeologist, Dr. Liara T'Soni was examining one of many Prothean relics that she and the _Normandy'_s crew had recovered from Ilos, before heading deeper into the Terminus Systems.

Inside his quarters on the port side of crew deck on the _Normandy_, Lieutenant Commander Adrian T. Shepard paced around his quarters, while reading a data-pad. Adrian was still donning his N7 Onyx heavy armor, before setting the data-pad on a desk. He looked over to the single table inside his quarters, where a small picture frame decorated the otherwise bare table. He pulled up a chair and waved his hand over the picture, revealing his former teammate and lover, Chief Gunnery Officer Ashley Williams, who had valiantly fought to a bitter end on Virmire, a month earlier; shortly before _Sovereign_'s attack on the Citadel.

Up on the command deck of the _Normandy_ where the CIC and the bridge were located, the crew maintained their duties with extreme vigilance. In the bridge Navigator Pressley checked the various displays, while Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau was keeping the _Normandy_ on course.

"Disengaging FTL drives," Joker announced as the ship's FTL drive powered down. "Emissions sink active. Board is green… we are running silent,"

"We're wasting our time. Four days running up and down this sector, and we haven't found any sign of geth activity," Pressley noted with disappointment as he tapped a few commands on his data pad.

Joker looked back at him before returning his gaze to the haptic adaptive interface in front of him. "Three ships went missing here in the past month. Something happened to them,"

"My money's on slavers. The Terminus Systems is crawling with them," Pressley replied.

A young ensign named Talitha Draven, who was sitting at the long-range sensors console, spotted something. "Picking up a contact on the long-range scanner. Unidentified vessel. Looks like a cruiser,"

"Doesn't match any known signatures," Joker commented.

Far behind the_ Normandy, _a gargantuan vessel that appeared to be a mix of both organic and technological construction was cresting the light side of the planet and gaining speed. The vessel altered its course towards the lone Alliance stealth frigate, with an increased velocity.

"Cruiser is changing course. Now on intercept trajectory," Ensign Dreven reported. Pressley looked at the display with shock.

"Can't be. Stealth systems are engaged. There is no way a geth ship could-,"

"It's not the geth," Joker stated as he looked at the display, as if realizing some unseen evil was nearby. "Brace for evasive maneuvers!"

The prow of the massive vessel trailing behind the_ Normandy_ began the glow in a golden light. Before firing a golden beam at the rapidly maneuvering stealth frigate; the first blast went over the _Normandy_'s topside missing the ship, by mere meters, before striking the number two port thruster nacelle.

The engine exploded, causing several systems to violently overload. The panel near Pressley exploded and killed the XO. Ensign Draven rushed over to him quickly.

"Pressley!" Before being caught in an explosion as her station overloaded.

"Kinetic barriers down. Multiple hull breaches. Weapons off-line and someone get that fire out!" Joker frantically exclaimed as more and more systems went off-line.

Two decks below the CIC and bridge, Tali was busy trying to keep the drive core from overloading, when a piece of debris impacted Adams in the leg. She rushed over to Adams as a couple of engineers nearby were caught in an explosion.

As she lifted Adams and rested his left arm over her shoulders, Garrus came rushing in with his fully sealed Agent combat armor. "Garrus! Adams has been hit. We need to get him up to the escape pods on deck two!"

"Where's Shepard?" He asked as he hefted Adams' right arm over his shoulders and the three of them proceeded to carry Adams out of the engineering bay.

"Last I saw, he was up on the crew deck with Liara and Kaiden," she replied as the two of them made their way into the elevator. The lift began to slowly rise, and the three of them were nearly knocked over as another blast struck the severely damaged frigate. "Keelah! Why won't this damn elevator move faster?"

The elevator finally reached the crew deck as Liara was in her fully sealed white and red light armor. The young asari archaeologist and scientist, was helping a wounded crewmember up when she saw the three of them emerge from the smoke-filled elevator.

"Liara, where's Shepard?" Garrus asked. Liara shielded her helmet's visor from the sparks of a dislodged cable as the ship shuddered again from another blast.

"He's up past the sleeper pods, launching a distress beacon. Kaiden went to go get him," she explained, as they began to make their way to the escape pods. Liara and Garrus helped Adams into the pod, while Tali was directing crewmembers to the escape pods, before climbing in herself.

Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko ran out of the medical bay, with Dr. Chakwas and Liara. He made his way towards the bow section of the crew deck dodging sparking wires and secondary explosions from overloaded systems. He made it over to the sleeper pods area, where a heavily armored figure was busy typing commands on the haptic adaptive interface.

"Shepard!" He called out.

"Distress beacon is a way," Commander Adrian Shepard announced as he placed his helmet on and sealed it while polarizing the visor as he turned to his second-in-command.

"Will the Alliance get here in time?" Kaiden asked while Shepard pondered the question. An explosion knocked Kaiden forward. Adrian caught him, while looking at the display as it turned to static.

"The Alliance won't abandon us, not now. We just need to hold on for as long as possible," he ordered as he tossed the fire extinguisher to Kaiden as he rushed back to fix a panel. "Get everybody to the escape shuttles,"

"Joker is still in the cockpit. He won't abandon ship," Kaiden reported. "I'm not leaving, either, Commander,"

"I need you to get the crew to the evac shuttles. I'll go take care of Joker," Shepard responded as he made his way to the front of the sleeper pods.

"Commander…" Kaiden called.

"Kaiden, go. Now!" Shepard ordered without hesitation.

"Aye, aye," he replied dejectedly.

While Kaiden rushed off, Adrian was reconnecting a loose cable. His knowledge of starship systems was something he had picked up as a child growing up on space stations and starships. Once the cable was repaired to functioning, he went over to the panel and launched the beacon.

A hull panel on the starboard side of the _Normandy _rose up, revealing six escape pods. Kaiden rushed over to the pods along with any of the surviving members of the crew that weren't trapped. He stopped outside of a pod and looked back.

"Everybody in! Go, go, go!" He beckoned them into the pod as Dr. Chakwas and another crewman climbed in.

He turned to get into the pod, but paused to see if anyone else was coming. As two more crewmembers came bounding around the corner, one of them leaped into the pod. The other, however, was caught in an explosion and let out a scream as she was hurdled into the air. Kaiden jumped into the pod and lowered the rack above him, securing him to his seat inside the small craft.

One by one the pods ejected from the stricken vessel. The _Normandy_ had sustained severe damage on her topside, as one of her engine nacelles and forward thrusters had been taken out of commission. Three of the thrusters were still online and were maneuvering the ship towards Alchera.

Shepard turned from the panel, when he was nearly knocked over by a blast as the systems overloaded, taking his armor's kinetic barriers with it. He went down the walkway between the sleeper pods and through the wrecked crew deck. He stopped briefly and looked at the sealed door to his quarters, which had been blasted close, before making his way up to the port stairwell.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday! This is SSV _Normandy. _We've suffered heavy damage from an unknown enemy," Joker's voice said over the open comm.

Adrian made his way up to the middle platform of the stairway as he heard Joker's voice once more. "Come on, baby. Hold together. Hold together!"

Adrian made sure his armor's magnetic boots were active as the air rushed out of the door into the hull breached CIC. He stood there momentarily shocked, never in his life had he ever seen a ship sustained so much damage, even the Reaper _Sovereign, _would destroy a ship out right. Not cause significant damage.

He looked over at the command consoles around the galaxy map that was flickering. Looking up he saw one of the hull plating supports, give way and fly off into the vacuum of space. It was going to be hard to explain this to the Council, if he ever made it back alive.

Adrian slowly made his way towards the cockpit; the only sound he heard was his own breathing. He pushed a few dislodged stations out of his way as he went down the darkened corridor towards the bridge. He could see a barrier around the bridge, and the controls still active. He rushed over to Joker, once he was on the other side of the barrier.

"Come on Joker! We have to get out of here!" Adrian exclaimed as he went over to Joker.

"No! I won't abandon the _Normandy_! I can still save her!" Joker protested as he looked up to him.

"The _Normandy_'s lost. Going down with the ship won't change that," Adrian replied as he tried to convince Joker not to throw his life away. Joker looked at the display with a resigned look.

"Yeah…okay. Help me up," He said as he took one last look at the display.

High above the crippled ship, the unknown attacker was coming around to finish what it had started. The prow began to glow as it targeted the _Normandy_. Joker looked up through the shattered hull and saw the attacker preparing to open fire.

"They're coming around for another attack!" Joker exclaimed in warning.

The enemy ship fired, concentrating its energy beam on the middle section of the _Normandy_. Adrian rushed over to the escape pod and watched the beam cut through the ship, like a knife through hot butter. The pink glow of sparks and flames were casted on the N7 Onyx armor, as Shepard doubled back to grab Joker. He grabbed Joker's arm a little harder than he meant to and heard Joker grimace in pain.

"Ah! Watch the arm!" Joker cried out bitterly as Commander Shepard lifted Joker out of his seat.

He carried Joker to the escape pod and helped him get inside, while the ship was getting ready to give way, at any moment. A nearby bulkhead exploded causing Adrian to get distracted as he watched the rest of the ship get torn away with the sound of shearing metal. The blast knocked the air from him as he was sent back in the bulkhead behind him.

Joker could only watch in fear as his commander was pulled away from safety. He couldn't bear the thought of losing both Shepard and the _Normandy_ at the same time. He watched as Shepard looked at him from behind the pitch black polarized visor.

"Commander!" Joker yelled out as Shepard was wretched free and floated over to the controls.

Adrian looked at the panel then back at Joker, realizing that it was his only way to save Joker. He watched as an energy beam came in between him and his only way to safety. He had a feeling this would happen as much as he hated to admit it. He gave one last look at Joker, who was confused and worried to as what Shepard was about to do.

"Stay safe out there, Joker," Adrian said to himself as he pressed the panel.

"Shepard!" Joker yelled out as the pod sealed and shot out of the _Normandy_.

Adrian began to float freely in the void as the blast enveloped him. He watched as the ship that helped him take down Saren and deliver the killing blow to _Sovereign _gave way to its fate. The explosion hurled him across the ship into another bulkhead and sent him fly through the gaping hole in the top of the vessel.

"_Goodbye Normandy and thank you,"_ He thought as he watched the energy beams finished severing the ship in half as the bow floated free of the main hull. He watched as three beams delivered the killing blow, destroying the _Normandy_ in a fiery explosion. His breathing was steady, but audible as looked at the wreaked hulk of his ship, get destroyed around him.

He felt the heat on his back from the bow of the ship being engulfed in a secondary explosion, as he noticed his air hoses had become severed and his armor seals had been breached. He grabbed back trying to stop the release of air as he was spiraling out of control and suffocating from the lack of air as he approached the planet's atmosphere. The last thing Lieutenant Commander Adrian Shepard felt was the agonizing heat of entering Alchera's atmosphere and the stabbing cold of the vacuum of space, and then nothing, just silence.


	2. Resurgence of a Hero

**A/N:** I've re-edited this chapter hopefully its more clear.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect, its characters or any of the official fiction. They are the property of BioWare and Electronic Artists. **

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><p><em>"Commander Shepard's body has been recovered. The Lazarus Project is a go,"<em>

Miranda Lawson and Wilson looked at Project Lazarus' only subject. She admitted she was worried that the project would be a failure. Wilson on the other hand had reassured her, to think otherwise. The procedures began with cybernetic reconstruction of his body.

Over time they began with his physical reconstruction and began rebuilding his internal organs. This was only the start; the hardest part was the neurological rebuilding and having his memory restored. Commander Shepard's body had been heavily damaged to the point of it being nearly unrecognizable.

She checked over his vital signs, he was stabilized for the moment. Wilson came in with a data pad that contained his calculations. She took the data pad, with an icy glare towards Wilson, who immediately backed off when he saw her piercing eyes, staring through him.

"These estimates are off, run them again," she ordered. Wilson was taken by surprise, how she could possibly know the estimates were off.

"I assure you, Lawson, the estimates are right," Wilson angrily replied as he snatched the data pad out her hands.

"This project has no room for error, Wilson! It's either perfect or it's wrong and if one minor decimal is off, Commander Shepard will not come back to life. Run the numbers again and do it right this time," she stated bitterly as he turned back to the slowly reconstructed Cmdr. Shepard.

While still unconscious, Adrian Shepard was very much alive as far as vitals, EKG and neural activity was concerned. His face had to undergo complete reconstruction, and it looked like he had still fought at Elysium during the Skyllian Blitz where he had received a prominent scar going down the left side of his face. His current scarring was from the adding of cybernetic implants to his skull. The only thing to note was his rapid eye movement was increasing a sign usually associated with dreaming.

Adrian Shepard looked around, he was standing on a grassy plain on a world, the reminded him of the little he had seen of Earth. He was confused as the knee high grassy and azure skies were all he could see in every direction. The last thing he remembered was the _Normandy_ being destroyed and for reasons unknown Ashley Williams. His pondering came to an end when he heard heavy footsteps in the grass, and turned to see the last person in the galaxy he ever wanted to see, Saren Arterius.

"Now…isn't this an interesting coincidence, Shepard," Saren walked up to his former enemy. "I'm not sure how this happened or why we're talking, but it doesn't matter. What does matter is that you and I now have a chance to talk,"

"Why should I talk to you…Saren?" Adrian replied with an air of hostility. "In case you forgot, you tried to kill me on Virmire, and then you tried again at the Citadel!"

"I am not acting under the influence of Sovereign," Saren wasn't even fazed by Shepard's statement.

"Right…and next you're going to tell me, that you didn't shoot Nihlus in the back of the head!" Adrian replied with a near shout.

"The fact you are arguing with your subconscious is laughable at best. It only goes to show how far gone, your mental state is," Saren stated with little interest in what Shepard was saying.

Adrian stared into the turian's blue eyes, trying to discern any truth from what was for all intents and purposes a figment of his imagination. Saren simply stood there with his hands behind his back, looking at the human with a blank expression on his face.

"So is this some kind of dream?" Adrian asked.

"Since when did you start asking all these questions, skipper?" A new voice said.

Adrian turned around, much to his surprise, he saw someone else. This someone was Ashley Williams, once a proud and headstrong soldier. Ashley now only existed in his dreams, as the rest of her was vaporized on Virmire. He knew his mind was probably playing a trick on him, since he knew full well that Ashley Williams was dead, a fact that haunted his every dream.

"Ash? Is that really you?" He forced himself to ask.

Before Williams or his minds projection of Williams, he was jostled awake. The sound of sirens and gunfire was heavy in the air, or heavy wherever he was. His eyes snapped open as he took in his surrounding, which appeared to be some sort of room or med bay.

"Shepard wake up!" A demanding feminine voice ordered.

He rose up on the top of an operating table slowly. He managed to sit himself up, despite the stabbing pain in his ribs and the sides of his waist. He swung his legs over the table noticing the black combat boots and white and black utility trousers along with what looks like a utility uniform top he was wearing, he looked at the golden insignias on both of his shoulders with confusion.

Adrian leaned forward and nearly fell off the table. He brought up his left hand to rub his forehead, which felt like it had been on the receiving end of a turian dreadnought's main gun. He looked around the med bay he was in, he wasn't sure if this was an Alliance facility. "Your scars haven't fully healed yet, but we need to get moving!"

"Shepard we don't have much time to waste. Get over to that locker and suit up!" The commanding voice said again, which he identified with the name Miranda.

Adrian walked over to the locker and opened it up, the first thing he noticed was the set of N7 armor, which was made of interchangeable armor segments. He quickly strapped the chest plate, greaves, gauntlets and shoulder pads. He noticed an M-3 Predator pistol and grabbed it.

"This pistol doesn't have a thermal clip," he said as he pointed out the obvious.

"It's a med bay! Don't worry, you'll find a clip; take cover near the door," Miranda ordered.

He did as he was told, but after taking cover the door exploded. He rushed forward and noticed a body nearby. He crouched down and began to check for anything that could help him, get an idea what the current situation was apart from being told to wake up, and that there were mechs bent on killing him. Feeling around the pockets he found a thermal clip for his pistol.

Adrian loaded the clip into the pistol. He was glad they used thermal clips, since after _Sovereign'_s attack; they became very popular in demand as opposed to waiting for your heat sinks to cool down. The heat sinks as they were alternatively, called were interchangeable with any weapon short of heavy weapons, which required powers cells.

He vaulted over a makeshift barrier made of what appeared to be a desk, a few chairs and a couple of crates. Looking around, Adrian tried to get an accurate assessment of his surroundings, when a shot impacted his armor's kinetic barriers. He quickly took to cover, and proceeded to shoot the mech with well-placed shots. He was about to proceed further when a group of them appeared, he fired a few rounds managing up to take out a couple of the LOKI mechs.

That was when he noticed the concussive shot feature on his omni-tool, curious to see what it could do to the mech, he fired the concussive shot at a mech sending the machine flying back into the wall behind it and shattering. He dispatched the last mech with a well-placed shot to the head.

Adrian proceeded forward keeping his pistol ready, so he could take down any hostiles that unexpectedly rounded a corner. Taking one last glance of the room he was in, he looked out the window and saw the stars and nebulae giving him the impression that he was on a space station.

Leaving the room, he proceeded down the hallway, and saw a massive YMIR mech gunning down people, and shooting those nearby. The heavy mech looked at Shepard, seeing that its target was on the opposite side of a window, it clambered down the opposite direction of where it had come.

"Shepard there's a squad of mechs heading your way. Grab the grenade launcher and get to cover," Miranda instructed over the radio.

Adrian picked up the discarded M-100 Grenade Launcher and took cover behind the railing. Three hacked security mechs walked in. Taking his chance, he fired a single grenade in the middle of the three mechs, taking them out simultaneously, but causing a steam valve to ignite sending a jet of flames across the walkway.

"Take the elevator down one level, and I'll try to meet you on the other side of those flames," Miranda said.

He walked over to the elevator, while collapsing the grenade launcher and putting it on his back. He reached for his pistol and in walked onto the platform. The platform stopped at the walkway and he got off just as it fell off its rail down into the dark confines of the station. Adrian sprinted through the jet of flames, without pause.

"You're doing fine Shepard. Shepard! I have mechs on me I'll try to…" Mirada tried to say before being cut-off by static, gunfire and an explosion. Looking both ways the corridor, he saw a door panel glowing green and proceeded into the room to see two LOKI mechs crawling, in which he shot both of the mechs in the head.

He saw a computer console and walked over to it and activated it. He listened to what he was guessing was Miranda explaining about the status of a subject. He noticed a wall safe and activated his omni-tool, he hacked the security measures on the safe and opened it half expecting to find information on the station, and instead he found 975 credits.

Wilson's log was slightly less interesting, as it pertained to the astronomical cost of the project. He thought he had heard the sound of footsteps caused by the mechs and decided to keep going. Adrian sprinted to the top of the stairs as he witnessed another YMIR mech massacring what looked like a lab technician. He heard the sound of gunfire coming from what was labeled as the D wing mezzanine.

Crouched behind cover, Adrian saw someone firing at the mechs across from them in the opposing mezzanine. Keeping himself near cover he rushed over to the unknown figure. The figure stood up and reached out with his right arm, which was glowing blue as he lifted a mech off of the mezzanine on out to the side of them.

"Have a nice trip," the unknown biotic yelled out in triumph before seeing Adrian," Shepard...what the hell? What are you doing here?"

"I just woke up. Are you with Miranda?" Adrian asked.

"Yeah, I am. My name is Jacob Taylor, I have been stationed here… well, it doesn't really matter anymore," Jacob answered as he looked over their cover for anymore mechs.

"What's with the mechs?" Adrian indicated with a nod of his head to remains of the LOKI mechs.

"Security mostly. Technically you can't hack them unless it's an inside job," Jacob replied.

"I know a few who could. Where are we anyways, this doesn't look like an Alliance facility?"

"Technically it isn't. The Alliance declared you missing in action, when you died two years ago," Jacob answered.

"Two years? I've been dead for two years? How am I alive?" Adrian asked simultaneously.

"It's been about…" Jacob began but was cut off by gunshots as he ducked back down. "Dammit more mechs, look Shepard, we'll deal with these mechs first. Then we can get back to your questions. We're low on thermal clips, but I'm a biotic,"

Jacob stood up and pulled another mech into the abyss below the mezzanines. Adrian rose up and fired another concussive shot at a mech. Three more mechs fired their machine pistols at Jacob and Shepard. The two of them dispatched the remaining mechs with little trouble. "They're pulling back. Alright, what questions do you have?"

"You said they spent two years putting me back together?" Adrian asked with confusion.

"I'm no doctor, but it was pretty bad, if it were anywhere else you would've ended up in a coffin, but Project Lazarus had only one subject. You." Jacob answered.

Before any other questions could be asked, Wilson contacted both Jacob and Adrian and was shocked to learn that Adrian was still alive. Adrian was surprised by the same, but he found it to be a little suspicious. The two of them raced up to the control center.

They headed up the stairs into what looked like an air processing center, where they ran into three mechs. Adrian ducked behind a pipe and took out the closest mech to him. Jacob took down another with pull, while Adrian finished off the last mech with a concussive shot.

Jacob was angry that they ran into a squad of mechs. "Wilson this path is full of mechs,"

"The entire station is full of mechs," Wilson replied over the radio while Adrian shook his head slowly.

"_Wilson's grasp of the obvious is… inspiring,"_ Adrian bitterly thought as he made his way through the room.

Adrian ignored Wilson's and Jacob's banter over where they should go. Adrian checked his corners has he kept on the lookout for any mechs, primarily the heavy YMIR mechs. He looked back at Jacob, who was still talking to Wilson over the radio, when suddenly, Wilson let out a yell in fright.

"Oh, God! They found me! Help!" Wilson cried out over the radio.

"Wilson where are you?" Jacob asked.

"Server Room B, hurry!" Wilson replied.

When they arrived, Wilson was sitting on the floor leaning against the crates. Adrian looked at Wilson the expressionless face. He couldn't tell if Wilson was lying or not, it didn't make sense for someone who was in the bio wing, to have security mech clearance. Adrian patched up Wilson's wound with medi-gel. Wilson looked Adrian in the eyes, who looked back at Wilson with suspicion.

"Thanks. I guess we're even now," Wilson said as he grunted in pain.

"We need to find Miranda," Jacob stated as they were planning their next moves.

"Forget it. Miranda was over in D Wing. The mechs are crawling all over it" Wilson asserted.

"I just came in from D Wing and I survived," Adrian countered as he slammed a thermal clip into his pistol.

"Then where is she. The only possibility is that she's a traitor or the mechs got her," Wilson said in speculation.

"Miranda helped me get out of there," Adrian pointed out.

"Listen, we can speculate about this later. We need to get to the shuttles, they aren't that much…" Wilson said as he noticed several LOKI Mechs come through a door on the far side of Server Room B.

Wilson overloaded a container taking out the mechs. Wilson placed his M-5 Phalanx pistol on his belt. Jacob and Adrian came over. Jacob looked at Wilson and then at Shepard as he was preparing to head out. "All right, we've got this sorted out, but it is starting to get tense. Shepard, if we tell you who we work for, will you trust us?"

"This really isn't the time," Wilson looked at Jacob with annoyance and then sighed with reluctance. "If you want to piss off the boss it's, your ass,"

"We won't get anywhere if he's expecting a shot to the back. The Lazarus Project, the project that brought you back was funded by a group called Cerberus," Jacob explained.

"I think I ran into Cerberus, a few times when I was hunting down Saren. Some sort of splinter pro- human radical faction, right?" Adrian questioned as he went for his pistol, but he didn't draw it.

"That's what the Alliance wants people to believe. When we're done here, we'll take you to the Illusive Man," Jacob explained.

"Elusive Man?" Adrian raised his eyebrows at the odd name of the apparent leader of Cerberus.

"That's Illusive Man. It's a codename, the Alliance gave him, and it kind of stuck. He'll explain everything, when we get there," Jacob replied.

"Don't count on it. I'm not working with Cerberus-," Adrian looked away clearly not relishing the idea of having to fight both rogue Mechs and Cerberus operatives. "But, I'll put aside my distrust of Cerberus, until we're off this station,"

"Fair enough," Jacob replied, not expecting Adrian to side with them.

Adrian led the way as the two Cerberus operatives followed behind him. He stopped above a fallen Cerberus employee, and checked the data pad for anything useful, which there wasn't any. In Adrian's mind a lot of things weren't adding up, and this was a Cerberus facility, why weren't there more armed guards.

The facilities he and his team had attacked in the Voyager Cluster while tracking down Saren were heavily guarded, only their remote outpost in the Argos Rho Cluster, which had been overrun by rachni and their outpost on Chasca, which had been crawling with husks, were the only Cerberus facilities he hadn't encountered resistance from the mysterious human centrist organization.

The three of them made their way to the shuttles in the shipping warehouse. Adrian went to the left flank while Jacob and Wilson broke off and headed towards the right. Grabbing his M-100 grenade launcher, he fired it into the group of mechs. Wilson overloaded a group while Jacob pulled on over a balcony. Securing the area they made their way to the shuttle.

"Just one second …let me get this door opened," Wilson said as he opened the door with Adrian and Jacob not far behind. "Miranda? I thought you were…,"

Miranda gave an evil look at Wilson, before she shot him at point blank in the face. "Dead?"

"What the hell are you doing?" Jacob asked in surprise as he rushed over to Wilson's body. Adrian raised his pistol at her, keeping it aimed at her.

"My job, Wilson betrayed us," Miranda coldly replied.

"Not exactly the best way to greet him," Adrian pointed out as he kept his pistol trained on Miranda as he indicated with his head.

"He killed my staff, he nearly tried to kill me and he was going to kill you," Miranda replied.

"If you say so," Adrian finally said as he holstered his pistol.

"Come, we have very little time to waste. My boss wants to speak with you," Miranda beckoned Adrian to follow her, but he remained right where he was and crossed his arms.

"You mean the Illusive Man. I know you work for Cerberus," he crossed his arms and watched Miranda, trying to anticipate any unexpected attacks from the newcomer.

"Figures Jacob always knew that conscience of yours would get the better of you," Miranda commented as she looked over to her compatriot.

"Lying to Shepard, is not the best way to get him to join our cause, Miranda," Jacob countered as he looked at Adrian, who wasn't faltering in his judgment of Cerberus.

"Fine. Is there anything else you want to know, Commander?" She asked impatiently.

"I'll go with you, but I'm not joining Cerberus. I'm willing to hear this Illusive Man out, but apart from that I don't trust any of you… yet," Shepard as he sighed heavily before stepping past them.

Three of them boarded a UT-47 Kodiak dropship, as it left the Lazarus Station. Cmdr. Adrian Shepard leaned back in his seat. For the first time in who knew how long, he could finally rest without having to worry about anything shooting at them or a ship being suddenly attacked. Miranda looked at Shepard with slight suspicion; he wasn't exactly what she envisioned the Hero of the Citadel would be like.

The shuttle jumped away, while Shepard had taken the staring out the window with deepening contemplation. He was wondering where the rest of his teammates were, and how many had survived the destruction of the _Normandy_. From what he had gathered from Jacob it had been two years and twelve days since his apparent death, not that he had believed it.

"Now, before you meet with the Illusive Man, I have a few questions ask you?" Miranda informed him.

Adrian turned his gaze to the Cerberus officer. His brown eyes narrowed as he attempted to guess her intent, and was debating whether or not they were to be trusted. "What do you want to know?"

"All right, according to the records, you're a spacer kid. Raised on one ship or another. You enlisted and won a medal fighting the batarians at Elysium, do you remember why you fought there?" Jacob asked.

"There were a lot of lives depending on me holding the line. I don't regret any action I did on Elysium," Shepard replied, while curious what his past had to do with his current situation.

"I'm not disagreeing with you, Commander. I had friends at Elysium that saw what you did, it was impressive," Jacob commented on Shepard's answer.

"Let's try something a little more recent. Virmire, where you destroyed Saren's breeding facility. You were forced to leave one of your team members behind…" Miranda began as she looked to Jacob.

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams was killed in action. It was your call; do you remember why you chose her?" Jacob asked.

"Ash was more than a friend. I regretted my decision, but at the time I knew what had to happen and I didn't do it casually," Adrian replied as he had flashbacks of Ashley Williams' death.

"Everybody at Cerberus knew that cloning facility had to be destroyed. I wasn't questioning your judgment; you made the right decision even if it didn't feel like it at the time."

"Shepard think back, when humanity was offered a chance to gain a seat on the Council, you were given the choice of selecting who would be the Councilor?"

"I remember, I chose Captain Anderson," Adrian answered with perfect clarity.

"Yes, Captain Anderson is now Councilor Anderson. Though I hear he prefers military life over politics," Miranda commented.

"Still, it's good to know there is someone on the Council who won't put politics ahead of defense," Jacob said with approval.

"I suppose there are a few others tests, we could run," Miranda said in contemplation.

"Come on Miranda, it's him without a doubt," Jacob declared.

"It has been two years, Jacob. We need to make sure that he is ready," Miranda refuted.

"I thought the two years, was a lie?" Adrian slowly admitted. "You mean... I was actually dead for two years?"

"For all intents and purposes yes, but more accurately it has been two years and twelve days since you were declared dead," Miranda informed him.

The shuttle exited FTL as it move closer to the gargantuan Cerberus outpost, called _Minuteman Station_. The station was larger than the Lazarus Research Station. The shuttle landed in one of the many hangar bays on the station, Miranda, Jacob and Adrian went up to one of the levels of the outpost.

Adrian was still shaken by the revelation he had been dead for over two years. He walked in looking around the facility; he knew the Council, Admiral Hackett and the Turian Hierarchy would have a field day if they ever learned about the existence of this station. The station looked like it could hold its own against a turian patrol, with ease.

"The Illusive Man is waiting, I suggest you go talk to him," Miranda informed him.

He shook his head. Wilson was right; she was quite the ice queen. He made his way down the hallway and a flight of stairs as he walked into a room with a circle in the center of it. Standing in the center of the room, Adrian looked around as he was suddenly enveloped by an orange hologram and then standing in a dark room with a star in the background. In front of him, who he assumed was the Illusive Man sat there smoking a cigarette.

"Commander Shepard," he said as he greeted his guest.

"Illusive Man, you're shorter than I expected and I thought we'd be meeting each other face-to-face," Shepard crossed his arms at glared daggers at the mysterious leader of Cerberus.

"A necessary precaution for those who know what you and I know," the Illusive Man responded.

"You may be the reason I'm alive, but I don't trust you," Adrian shot back.

"You need to put your feelings aside to face the greatest threat humanity has ever faced,"

"The Reapers," Adrian answered.

"Good to see your memory is still intact. How are you feeling?"

"None of your damn concern," Adrian sharply replied as he looked at the figure in front of him. "Cut to the chase and tell me why I'm here?"

"Very well. We're at war. No one wants to admit it, but humanity is under attack," the Illusive Man explained. "While you have been sleeping entire human colonies have been disappearing. You've seen what the Reapers can do yourself; you bested one of them,"

"You're going to have to try harder than that to convince me," Adrian said as he narrowed his eyes at the head of Cerberus.

"I'd be disappointed if I could persuade you that easily. I have a shuttle waiting for you, to take you to Freedom's Progress. The latest colony to fall silent,"

"Am I being volunteered or is this a volunteer mission?" Adrian questioned with a high degree of suspicion.

"You always have a choice, Shepard. If you don't believe me, you can leave whenever you wish, but first go to Freedom's Progress and see for yourself," the Illusive Man finished by deactivating the projector with the press of a few controls.

Shepard left the room and headed back the way he came in. He made his way past Miranda and Jacob, who both followed him out of the room. He didn't care what this Illusive Man said; it would take more than a simple investigation of a missing colony to convince him otherwise, unless there was a Prothean beacon involved the geth, a rogue turian Spectre or an actual Reaper. He boarded the shuttle along with Miranda and Jacob to Freedom's Progress. Hopefully he could get out of this deal with Cerberus and part ways just as fast as he was forced into this situation.


	3. Freedom's Progress

A/N: Yes, I'm back and I apoligize for the delay. Without further ado I give you Resurgence Chapter 3.

Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all respective characters, media, and official canon belong to Bioware. I own nothing.

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><p>Adrian leaned back in his seat as the UT-47 Kodiak drop shuttle made its descent onto Freedom's Progress. Across from him the two Cerberus operatives Jacob Taylor and Miranda Lawson, were going over the details of the colony. Miranda Lawson looked over to Adrian, she wasn't very comfortable with him being here, but the Illusive Man had instructed her to follow Shepard's orders.<p>

"The Illusive Man put you in charge of this mission. We'll be following your every order," She stated with a hint of contempt in her voice.

Adrian didn't miss the hint and looked at the two Cerberus operatives across from him. "Are you sure you'll be comfortable following my orders?"

"We didn't bring you back to life just to second guess you, Commander," Jacob answered while Miranda remained distant. "If the Illusive Man says you're in charge, you're in charge,"

The answer was sufficient for now, but after what happened to Admiral Kahoku he was hesitant lower his guard around his temporary allies. He knew for now it was in his best interest to assist Cerberus for the moment until a better opportunity arose. "What did you find at the other colonies?"

"Nothing. No signs of attack, no corpses. Not even a trace of unusual genetic material to give us a clue," Jacob paused briefly as he mentally recalled what he had seen at other remote colonies in the Terminus. "You wouldn't think there was anything wrong except that every single man, women and child had vanished into thin air. They just simply disappeared, and we haven't any target to go after yet,"

Adrian processed the information as he tried to see a connection to the Reapers. So far there wasn't a visible connection that this was the Reapers doing. The Reapers as he recalled from Vigil on Ilos and the fragments of images he had deciphered from the Prothean beacons on Eden Prime and Virmire; they were more likely to raze a colony from orbit rather than abduct the colonists and keep the structures intact.

He looked over to Miranda, while his brow furrowed with contemplation. "What makes you think this investigation will turn up anything new?"

Jacob answered once more while Miranda remained quiet. "At other colonies, official investigators got there first. Sometimes looters and salvage teams as well. We're hoping to be the first ones there this time. Maybe find clues before someone disturbs the scene,"

"Alright. Our first priority is to look for survivors," Adrian instructed.

Miranda looked surprised by the instructions. "That's unlikely, Shepard. No one was left at the other colonies. They were deserted,"

"Be nice to find somebody for a change. Anything's better than another ghost town," Jacob remarked in agreement with Adrian's orders.

The Kodiak circled the landing pad before setting down. Adrian jumped out and pulled the Elkoss Combine M-8 Avenger Assault Rifle off his back while Jacob held his M-23 Katana shotgun and Miranda a M-4 Shuriken machine pistol.

"We don't know how long this colony has been abandoned. Assume there are hostiles still on the ground," Adrian advised as he headed for the first prefab structure.

"Roger that, Commander," Jacob acknowledged.

Adrian looked around the settlement feeling the cold air and the slight chill of the wind as scattered flakes of snow fell from the dark sky. The colony was mostly illuminated by the two nearby moons that orbited Freedom's Progress. The three of them proceeded away from the Kodiak into the prefab structure in front of them.

They entered the structure as the internal lighting activated with a flicker of light. Adrian kept his rifle at the ready as he checked each corner, for a corpse, a survivor or some other indicator of what had transpired.

"Looks like everyone just got up and left in the middle of dinner," Jacob commented.

While Adrian wasn't sure what to make of the disappearance, he was sure it wasn't the sign of slavers, unless they suddenly started using nerve agents on settlements to incapacitate the colonists and capture them. As they exited the structure they headed into a stone courtyard.

Miranda looked around cautiously and noticed the lack of indicators there was an attack. "Strange. No bodies. No structural damage. No signs of battle. Something doesn't add up here, maybe will find more indicators deeper in the settlement,"

Adrian walked over to a large door and that and activated the haptic adaptive interface then proceeded in with caution. He heard the activation of several LOKI mechs and what sounded like a mechanical yowl, he slammed a thermal clip into his assault rifle's heat exchange.

He ran quickly to cover as the LOKI security mechs fired at him, while Jacob quickly came over to him and Miranda overloaded the core systems on one of the mechs. "Here that? Sounds like FENRIS mechs, be ready, they'll take down your shields easily,"

Adrian saw the robotic dog like mech, the aptly named FENRIS mechs he assumed, bound around the corner. One of the mechs charged at them as he brought his assault rifle to bear on the doglike machine. After firing a steady burst rounds into the mech it exploded. The second one took out Jacob's shield before it was blown away by a concussion shot from Adrian's assault rifle.

The second FENRIS didn't have adequate time to return end of the battle before being riddled with a shotgun's burst. Miranda fired her Shuriken machine pistol at another mech across the ravine before warping its armor and crushing the lightly armored LOKI mech. Adrian checked for more mechs as he replaced the thermal clip from his assault rifle.

"That's strange. Security systems were disabled at the other colonies," Miranda commented with surprise.

"Those mech shouldn't have been hostile. They should have recognized us as human," Jacob remarked with surprise.

Miranda shook her head. "Someone reprogram those mechs to attack on sight. We're not alone here, Shepard,"

"Agreed, will proceed as planned, but exercise caution. There are plenty of places for security mechs to hide," Adrian indicated to the corners and shadows, which could easily conceal a dormant LOKI or FENRIS mech with ease.

They proceeded through another courtyard to another group of buildings. The buildings yielded the same result empty, but little to no signs of disruption. Adrian stepped out of the building when he heard the activation of a FENRIS mech.

The mechs charged but was enveloped by dark energy as it flew off the ground as Jacob pulled with his biotic powers only to have the mech overloaded by Miranda. "Have a nice trip!"

Adrian approached the building as a LOKI security mech fired its pistol at Adrian with the rounds impacting his kinetic barriers. Adrian activated his adrenal boosters and rapidly took down the mech with a full-auto barrage from his assault rifle.

Jacob and Miranda approached as Adrian ejected the thermal clip from this assault rifle and placed a new one in the rifle. He ejected thermal clip from the downed mech's pistol and placed it in one of his armor's pouches. Placing his rifle on his back, he led the three of them up to the door and opened it.

Inside the prefab structure they saw three quarians looking over the map of the colony on one of the quarian's omni-tool. The quarians looked up at the same time as Shepard, Jacob and Miranda entered the room, with their weapons raised. The quarians quickly responded in kind and one of them stepped forward with an assault rifle.

"Stop right there!" A male quarian in grey enviromental suit barked as his fellow quarians took up arms and stood right next to him. Another quarian, a female donning a light purple and black enviormental suit, with a hood over her helmet and an opaque purple visor covering her face rushed up and stepped in between Shepard and his team and her fellow quarians.

"Prazza! You said you'd let me handle this!" The female quarian reprimanded the quarian called Prazza.

Adrian found her voice to sound exactly like one of his former teammate, the young, energetic and talented quarian known as Tali'Zorah. She looked back at the Cerberus newcomers before doing a double take and looking at Adrian.

"Wait… Shepard? Is that you?" She asked as Adrian and Jacob holstered their weapons while Miranda the lowered her pistol slightly. Prazza on the other hand was less than patient.

"I'm not taking any chances with Cerberus operatives!" Prazza protested in disagreement with Tali.

"Put those weapons down!" Tali ordered as her fellow quarians reluctantly lowered their weapons. Adrian quickly noticed the differences between Tali now and how she had looked back on the _Normandy_.

Tali looked back at Adrian and took a step forward. Adrian was speechless as Tali's silvery eyes examined him, most likely noticing the scars on his face. "Shepard? Is that... You're alive?"

"Yes I am, once more. Remember when I gave you that geth data, Tali? Did it help your Pilgrimage?" Adrian asked?

"Yes, it did. Prazza, weapons down! This is definitely Commander Shepard," Tali stated with the relief of seeing him alive again evident in her voice. Prazza on the other hand was not as forthcoming, but he placed the assault rifle on his back, with protest. "Dammit Tali, this is bullshit!"

"Not another word, Prazza!" Tali snapped back at Prazza. Prazza of the other hand wasn't convinced that Commander Shepard wasn't being deceptive. "Why is your old commander working for Cerberus?"

Tali was at a loss of words, she knew that the two individuals next to Shepard were no doubt Cerberus agents. They had fought Cerberus during the search for Saren, and had exposed a former Cerberus scientist who was responsible for the incident involving thresher maws on the colony world of Akuze.

"I don't know. Perhaps we should ask?" Tali questioned as she looked from Prazza to Adrian.

"Cerberus rebuilt me Tali, after my… well… death, but I'm not taking their orders. We can discuss the specifics once I know why you're here on Freedom's Progress," Adrian explained, while curious on why quarians would be on a fringe colony in the Terminus.

"One of our people was here on Pilgrimage. His name is Veetor'Nara. We came to find him, when he had activated his personal distress beacon," Tali explained to Adrian.

Adrian looked surprised and confused by the answer Tali had given. "Isn't that a little strange? A quarian visiting a remote human colony?"

"Quarians can choose where to go for Pilgrimage. Veetor liked the idea of helping a small settlement. He was always… nervous in crowds.

Prazza cut in while looking at Adrian with suspicion. "She means that he was unstable. Combine that with damage to his suit's CO2 scrubbers and an infection from an open-air exposure, and he's likely delirious,"

"When he saw us landing, he hid in a warehouse on the far side of town. We suspect also the reprogramed the mechs to attack anything that moved," Tali reported.

"Veetor might be the only one who can tell us what transpired here. We should work together to find him," Adrian offered.

Tali nodded her head in agreement. "A good idea, Shepard. Besides, you'll need two teams to get past the drones, anyway,"

"Now we're working with Cerberus?" Prazza angrily interjected as he casted an evil glare towards Miranda and Jacob.

"No, Prazza, you're working for me. If you can't follow orders, go wait on the ship," Tali snapped, before turning back to Adrian, who clearly looked confused.

Adrian wasn't a fan of Cerberus either, but it surprised him that the quarians knew of Cerberus. "Your people really don't like Cerberus. So what did I miss?"

"They killed our people, infiltrated our flotilla, and tried to blow up one of our ships," Prazza replied as he listed the reasons on one hand.

Adrian was surprised by Prazza's answer. The flotilla or the Migrant Fleet was the largest fleet in the known galaxy, and possibly one of the most secure locations in the galaxy. Miranda didn't look too satisfied with Prazza's interpretation of the Ascension Project debacle Cerberus had perpetrated shortly after the destruction of the _Normandy_. "That's not how I'd explained it, exactly. It was nothing personal,"

"We can argue over who killed who, later. Right now, we have a job to do," Jacob stepped in trying to defuse the argument.

"Agreed. We don't have too many options at the moment, so we'll need to work together to get to Veetor," Tali added.

"Tali, you and your team can move along the back way. My team will go along the direct approach, hopefully we'll distract enough security mechs away from you and your team to get through unnoticed," Adrian instructed as Tali nodded as she turned to leave. "Make sure to keep in radio contact, in case something goes wrong,"

"Will do. Good luck, Shepard. Whatever happens out there… it's good to have you back amongst the living," Tali said as she turned and followed Prazza out of the room before casting one last glance at Adrian, before leaving.

"It's good to be back," Adrian said quietly to himself as he motioned for Jacob and Miranda to follow him.

They headed out the prefab structure, into the next building pod. A LOKI mech activated, but was destroyed, before it had a chance opened fire. Adrian's hard suit's radio came to life as Tali's voice was heard. "Be careful, Shepard. There's a squad of security drones up ahead,"

"Thanks for the warning. We'll take care of them," Jacob replied.

As he exited the structure, the sound of aerial assault drones was heard as they swooped out from the shadows firing their machine guns at Adrian and his team. They took cover and Adrian fired his assault rifle at the drones, only for their kinetic barriers to absorb the blasts. Miranda fired her machine pistol at the drones before activating her omni-tool and overloading its critical systems, causing one of the drones to collide with an Alliance rocket drone.

Both Jacob and Adrian heard more drones coming in behind them. They fired their weapons at the drones before seeking better cover as a rocket drone fired on their position. Adrian covered his head as debris from the walkway flew through the air and his barriers glowed from the impact of the debris. He fired his rifle until its thermal clip emptied and he un-holstered his M-3 Predator pistol and finished off the drone. Deactivating his pistol, he ejected the thermal clip and replaced it immediately, noting how quickly his assault rifle went through an entire thermal clip.

"Shepard! Prazza and his squad rushed on ahead. I told them to wait, but they wouldn't listen!" Tali reported over the radio. "They want to find Veetor and take him away from here before you find him!"

"We should've expected this," Miranda commented with disgust.

More drones appeared as any of the loading bay. Adrian dashed to a nearby concrete barrier and took cover while he grabbed the M-92 Mantis sniper rifle off his back. Activating his adrenal booster, he aimed quickly and took down one of the drones before it had a chance to open fire on him. Miranda and Jacob concentrate their fire on three of the drones while Adrian took down the stragglers.

He checked for more hostiles as he heard Tali come in over his suit's radio. "Veetor reprogrammed a heavy mech! It's tearing Prazza's squad apart!"

Miranda shook her head at the unfortunate fate the quarians were suffering. "They did want to get to Veetor first,"

"Tali, can you open the loading bay doors?" Adrian asked as he approached the locked loading bay doors.

"Yes I can. Shepard, get your squad into cover and I'll open the door's,"

Adrian took cover behind a concrete barrier while Miranda and Jacob to cover on either side of the door. On the opposite side of the loading bay's door, Tali rushed out and activated her omni-tool checking for the frequency of the doors lock and unlocked the door as Prazza and a couple other members of his squad were gunned down by a YMIR heavy mech. Knowing she didn't have the firepower to go up against the heavy mech, she ran to cover as Adrian and his team entered the loading bay.

They watched as the last of Prazza's team was systematically wiped out one by one as the few that fled were taken out by one of the heavy mech's rockets. Miranda, Jacob and Adrian took cover behind a few crates just as the last of Prazza's team fell to the heavy mech's firepower.

"That mech has heavy armor plating. Those quarians never stood a chance," Jacob reported as he looked around the corner of the crate he was using for cover.

"That's going to be one tough son-of-a-bitch to take down," Miranda commented as Adrian agreed with her comment.

Adrian fired his sniper rifle at the mech, but its shields absorb the blasts without even staggering the heavy mech, which turned its attention to Adrian as a result of his attack. Miranda overloaded the shields bring it down a little as Adrian swapped his sniper rifle for his grenade launcher. Dodging rounds from the heavy mech's cannon, he took cover in the prefab structure that ran along the edge of the loading bay.

Crouching near a window, he brought the M-100 grenade launcher to bear on the heavy mech while Miranda and Jacob distracted it as it broke away from Adrian. He took his grenade launcher and fired the last two grenade rounds before the energy pack was depleted. The YMIR heavy mech struggled against the force of the blast as the two grenades impacted its heavy armor, causing its central photoreceptors to become vulnerable to gunfire.

Taking advantage of the mech's weakness Adrian dropped his grenade launcher and pulled his assault rifle off his back. Charging at the heavy mech he fired his assault rifle at full auto, taking quantity over accuracy as he neared the heavy mech. The mechs armor buckled as the assault rifle's slugs gutted the internal systems of the mech, causing it to lurch before exploding. Adrian was knocked on his back from the force of the explosion as all the air rushed out of his lungs.

Jacob rushed over to him and helped him up. He ejected the thermal clip on his assault rifle, before heading into the prefab structure where he had dropped his grenade launcher. He collapsed the heavy weapon, before placing on his back.

Adrian and his team walked into a nearby prefab structure where Tali and another quarian were tending to the wounded survivors of Prazza's squad. She looked up to see Adrian walking up to her. "This is your chance to go find Veetor, while I tend to the wounded, Shepard. He's probably somewhere in the back of the loading bay. I'll catch up with you in a moment,"

Jacob looked over to Adrian, who saw the same structure as he did. Outside the prefab structure was a destroyed YMIR heavy mech. The three of them walked up the ramp and drew their side arms in case there were hostile contacts within the room.

Miranda activated the door controls and they entered the dark room, with the orange glow of the security monitors in front of them being the only source of illumination inside. Sitting in front monitors a nervous quarian, they assumed was Veetor was shaking fear, oblivious to Adrian, his team or the remnants of Tali's team outside the structure.

"Monsters coming back. Mechs will protect. Safe from swarms. Have to hide. No monsters. No swarms. No-no-no-no-no," Veetor muttered nervously.

"Veetor?" Adrian questioned the nervous quarian in front of them.

"No Veetor. Not here. Swarms can't find. Monsters coming. Have to hide," the quarian muttered as he kept typing on the haptic adaptive interface in front of him.

Adrian shook his head, not entirely sure what was wrong with Veetor. "Nobody's going to hurt you anymore,"

"I don't think he can hear you, Commander," Jacob shook his head at the quarian.

Adrian activated his omni-tool and tuned it to the electronic frequency of the monitors in front of Veetor. He waved his omni-tool in front of the screens as each and every one of the screens deactivated, causing Veetor the turnaround and see Adrian and his team.

"You're human. Where'd you hide? How come they didn't find you?" Veetor nervously asked as he was surprised to see the humans in front of him.

Miranda took a step forward cautiously. "Who didn't find us?"

"The… the monsters. The swarms. They took everyone," Veetor stuttered nervously.

"We're not survivors. My name is Commander Shepard of Citadel Special Tactics and Recon, Veetor. We just got here to investigate what happened," Adrian answered.

"You don't know. You didn't see. But I see everything," Veetor turned to the interface and typed of a few commands bringing up security footage of bipedal insect-like creatures carrying away humans.

"Looks like security images. He must have pieced it together manually," Miranda commented as she studied the details of the images.

"What the hell is that?" Jacob asked in surprise. Adrian shook his head, in disbelief. He had never seen any creature like that, not even when he went to hunt down Saren.

Miranda gasped with suprise. "My god. I think that's a Collector,"

"Is that some kind of alien?" Adrian raised his brows in confusion.

"They're a species from somewhere beyond the Omega-4 Relay. Only a few have ever seen one in person," Jacob answered.

"They usually work through intermediaries, like slavers or hired mercenaries. If they're involved with the Reapers somehow, it could explain what happened to the missing colonies," Miranda added, having dealt with hirelings for the Collectors before.

Jacob knew the rumors surrounding the Collectors quite well. "The Collectors have advanced technology. They could have a weapon that disables an entire settlement at once,"

Veetor cut in with the answer. "The seeker swarms. No one can hide. The seekers find you. Freeze you. Then the monsters take you away,"

Adrian turned from the screen to Veetor. "What happened next, after the "monsters" took them away?"

"The monsters took the people onto their ship, and then they left. The ship flew away. But they'll be back for me. No one escapes!"

"I think that's all we're going to be getting out of him, Commander," Jacob stated with concern for Veetor's well-being.

Adrian nodded his head in agreement; post-traumatic stress disorder was a very debilitating experience to endure. "We appreciate what you told us. You're very helpful, Veetor,"

"I studied them. The monsters. The swarms. I record them with my omni-tool. Lots of reading. Electromagnetic. Dark energy," Veetor added as he activated his omni-tool.

Miranda stepped towards Veetor before turning to Adrian. "We need to get this data to the Illusive Man. Grab the quarian and call the shuttle to come pick us up,"

"That's not happening, Miranda," Adrian said blocking Veetor with himself. Tali opened the door just as Miranda stated her "suggestion".

"What? Veetor is injured! He needs treatment, not an interrogation!" Tali stated as she pointed at Miranda accusingly.

"We won't hurt him. We just need to see if he knows anything else. He will be returned unharmed," Jacob explained, though it fell upon deaf ears as Tali stepped in between Miranda and Veetor and stood next to Adrian.

"Your people tried to betray us once already. If we give him to you, we'll never get the intel we need," Miranda interjected.

"Coming from a Cerberus operative, you would know all about betrayal wouldn't you! Besides, Prazza was an idiot and he and his men paid for it. You're welcome to take Veetor's omni-tool data, but please let me take him, Shepard," she pleaded with Adrian. Adrian glanced between Veetor, Tali and Miranda, before coming to a decision.

"Why don't you join us, Tali? Just like old times," he offered.

Tali blushed at the idea of rejoining her old commander, not to mention the certain feelings she held for him. "I…I would, if I could. However, there is a mission coming up and I-uh… I can't let anyone take my spot on the mission, I want to tell you more, but you're with Cerberus at the moment. All I can say is it is in Geth Space, that should tell you how dangerous the mission is,"

He contemplated on Tali's words, before he turned to Miranda, stared at her with renewed vigor. "He's traumatized, and needs medical care and I doubt Cerberus has the means to give him the aid he requires. Tali will give us the omni-tool data and take Veetor back to the Migrant Fleet,"

"Understood, Commander," Miranda replied reluctantly.

"Thanks Shepard, I'm glad you're still the one giving orders," Tali commented as she went over to Veetor, before looking at Adrian. "Good luck out there. If I find anything that can help you. I'll let you know,"

"Here Tali, take this. It may come in handy when you're out in Geth Space. While you're out there blow up some geth for me," Adrian handed Tali his M-23 Katana shotgun, which she placed it on her lower back.

"I will, be safe out there… Shepard," Tali said as she took Veetor with her out of the room.

"Be safe out there, Tali'Zorah," Adrian replied quietly before turning to the security footage of the Collectors abducting the colonist of Freedom's Progress. Jacob radioed the shuttle for pickup, while Adrian continued to watch the screen; though he wasn't entirely convinced the Reapers were behind this.

The shuttle came by shortly thereafter. Adrian watched as they took off, the quarian ship an older model turian _Velox-_class scout ship, fly off into the distance. He sighed hoping to know where the rest of his team was, but he couldn't stop thinking about Tali, as he watched her ship disappear into the vastness of space. He closed his eyes, knowing that it would be a long trip back to _Minuteman_ _Station _where he would have to meet with the Illusive Man.


	4. Normandy Reborn

Author's Note: I thank everyone for adding this story to their favorites or alerts.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, Bioware and EA own everything.

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><p>Several hours after leaving both the empty colony of Freedom's Progress and his former teammate Tali'Zorah, Adrian found himself back on Cerberus's<em> Minuteman Station<em>, once more. He stood in the same room as he had been in before leaving the station, as the holo-projector activated, sitting casually in front of him, the Illusive Man took a draw from his cigarette, before acknowledging Adrian's presence.

"Shepard. Good work on Freedom's Progress," he tapped the cigarette as ash fell from it, before looking back at Shepard. "The quarians forwarded their findings from Veetor's debriefing. No new data, but it is a surprising olive branch, given our history,"

Adrian guessed that the Illusive Man was referring to the attack on the flotilla. The Illusive Man however was impressed by Adrian's efforts. "You and I have different methods; however, I can't argue with your result,"

"You ever think about playing nice once in a while?" Adrian questioned.

"Diplomacy is great when it works, but difficult when everyone perceives you as a threat…" the Illusive Man countered. "But more importantly, you confirmed the Collectors are behind the abductions,"

_Well you're right about the threat part_. Adrian thought bitterly as he looked at the Illusive Man, who sat across from him. "Why do I get the feeling you knew about them already?"

"I had my suspicions, but I needed proof. The Collectors are enigmatic at best. They periodically traveled through the Terminus Systems, looking to gather seemingly unimportant items or specimens. Usually in exchange for their technology," the Illusive Man explained, with little if any hint of surprise in his voice.

"When their transactions are complete, they disappear as quickly as they arrived; back beyond the unmapped Omega 4 Relay. Until now, we had no evidence of direct aggression by the Collectors,"

"Why is the Omega 4 Relay unmapped? What do we know about it?" Adrian asked with curiosity.

"Only that no ship that has passed through it has ever returned," The Illusive Man paused while choosing his next words. "Our best guess is that the relay reacts differently to Collector vessels, providing them with safe passage,"

Adrian pondered the notion, but he still wasn't convinced. "I agree that the Collectors are abducting human colonist, but I'm not seeing what this has to do with the Reapers,"

"If they can manipulate a mass relay, that is further evidence they're linked with the Reapers," The Illusive Man hypothesized.

"I'm still not seeing the connection to the Reapers, they could be an advanced race from around the time of the Protheans annihilation by the Reapers that secluded themselves off from the galaxy," Adrian offered his personal opinion, at which the Illusive Man wasn't convinced. "Regardless, is there any particular reason they'd shift their focus to humanity?"

"If they are indeed agents of the Reapers, it could be any number of reasons," The Illusive Man replied. "Obviously, humanity played a major role in _Sovereign_'s destruction. That alone might be enough to catch their interests. What really concerns me is why they bother abducting the colonists. Once the humans are paralyzed, why not just kill them?"

"What are the Collectors getting from these deals?" Adrian inquired.

"The Collectors aren't very forthcoming in their motives. Generally, they seek out species with rare genetic mutations or abnormalities," the Illusive Man replied as he tapped the butt of his cigarette on the arm of his chair. "They usually pay mercenary or slaver groups an exorbitant sums or advanced technologies in exchange for their desired specimens. And then they leave just as quickly as they came,"

"However, they have never targeted any one species before and not in the tens of thousands as they are doing now," The Illusive Man reported.

"I know you're holding something back. How are the Reapers truly involved in the abductions in the Terminus Systems?" Adrian questioned suspiciously.

The Illusive Man's eyes glowed faintly blue, before looking back at Shepard. "The patterns are there, buried in the data. The Council and the Alliance both want to believe the Reaper threat ended with

_Sovereign_'s destruction. You and I on the other hand, know better. I won't wait until the Reapers are on the march. We need to take the fight to them,"

"I'm still not seeing why Cerberus is concerned with Reapers or the Collectors. Why is Cerberus suddenly so eager to counter these threats?" Adrian's eyes narrowed. Truthfully he could never trust Cerberus, but if they were on the level, he might consider a temporary alliance with the rogue faction.

"Protecting and furthering humanity's development and to ensure humanity's ascension by any means necessary, is Cerberus's goal. The Reapers and the Collectors both pose a significant threat to humanity, one that must be dealt with immediately," the Illusive Man answered.

"Defending and helping humanity's development is a noble ideal, I only take issue with the means you use to achieve your… goals. However, I agree that the Reapers are a threat and one that must be stopped and if this is a war, I'll need an army or a very good team,"

Holographic dossiers and other information appeared in the Illusive Man's chair. "I've already compiled a list of soldiers, scientists and mercenaries. You'll get dossiers on the best of them, but finding them and convincing them to work with you could be… challenging, but you're a natural leader,"

A galaxy map appeared to the Illusive Man's right with several red circles over colonies that had been the sight of Collector abductions. "I'll continue to track the Collectors. When they make their next appearance and they will, I'll notify you and your team. You must be ready,"

"Last time I checked I was a Spectre. Maybe I can get the Council to aid our endeavors," Adrian suggested to his new...ally.

"If you think you can convince them, then by all means. Just remember – you've been gone for a long time. Things have changed," The Illusive Man advised.

"Then keep your list. I want people I can trust. The same ones who helped me take down both Saren and _Sovereign_," Adrian replied.

"That was two years ago, Commander. Most of them have moved on… or their allegiances have changed,"

"Well, what about Tali. She helped us out on Freedom's Progress and she's a skilled engineer and tech expert who can hold her own in a fight," Adrian suggested.

"Tali'Zorah's involvement was… unexpected. I'll need more intelligence on the matter, before I deem it an acceptable choice to commit on," Adrian thought of his other former teammates. "But what about Alenko, provided he got off the _Normandy_, he should be still alive,"

"Staff Commander Alenko did survive and is still with the Alliance, though his file is surprisingly well-classified,"

_Alright, Kaiden is out of the question unless I ask Anderson. _Adrian thought, before he asked about Liara who was apparently working for the Shadow Broker on Illium and was a potential liability, and Wrex had gone to Tuchanka, and hadn't left the world in over a year, leaving his only other companion Garrus. "Where's Garrus Vakarian?"

The Illusive Man was surprised by the question. "The turian disappeared a few months after you were declared dead. Even we haven't been able to locate him,"

Adrian was equally surprised and pleased at the same time by the Illusive Man's answer. Though he was curious where Garrus had disappeared off to, when he died. He had half expected that Garrus was either a Council Spectre or was back at Citadel Security Services, or back in the Hierarchy's military. With the rest of his former team unavailable, it appeared that Shepard was going to have to rely on Cerberus, for the moment. "Okay I get it, they're unavailable,"

"You're a leader, Shepard. You'll get what you need in due time," the Illusive Man answered.

"Agreed, you worry about the Collectors. I'll worry about building a team,"

"Good. Now two things before you go: First, head to Omega and find Mordin Solus. He's a brilliant salarian scientist. Our intelligence suggests he may know away around the Collectors' seeker swarms,"

_A salarian? This should be interesting_. Adrian thought as he asked. "I haven't even started, and you're telling me what to do,"

"I giving you directions; what you do with them is up to you. I'm sure you'll make the right decision," The Illusive Man clarified.

"Alright, what's the second part?" Adrian questioned.

"I found a pilot you might like. I hear he's the best. Someone you can trust," The Illusive Man deactivated the projector, effectively ending their conversation.

Adrian stood there, half expecting to meet the pilot during the meeting with the Illusive Man. He heard footsteps behind him as he heard the voice of the last person he'd expect to hear, let alone hear it on a Cerberus station. "Hey, Commander. Just like old times, huh?"

He turned around to see Jeff "Joker" Moreau wearing a Cerberus uniform, behind him and standing with little trouble though he limped as he walked. Adrian was surprised to put it mildly. He had thought the _Normandy_'s former helmsman would still be with the Alliance.

The two of them walked through the massive Cerberus station, talking about what had transpired in the past two years after Shepard had fallen off the grid and why Joker was walking way better, than when he had been on the _Normandy_.

"I still can't believe it's you, Joker," Adrian admitted as the two of them walked down the corridor.

"Look who's talking. I saw you get spaced," Joker replied.

"It seems, it wasn't my time, not yet anyways. So how'd you get here?"

"It all fell apart without you, Commander. Everything you stirred up, the Council just wanted it gone. Teams were broken up, records were sealed and I was grounded. The Alliance took away the only thing that I cared about. Hell yeah I joined Cerberus," Joker commented.

Adrian smirked; Joker was never one to sit on the sidelines, especially when it came to flying. "You really trust this Illusive Man?"

Joker shrugged as they stopped at a window overlooking a dark room. "I don't trust anyone who makes more than I do, but hey they, aren't that bad. They saved your live, let me fly and there's this,"

The room illuminated as ceiling lights activated in sequence revealing the sleek white, jet black and gold striped hull of a frigate. Adrian's eyes scanned over the frigate below, them. He noticed that the ship was similar in design to the SSV _Normandy, _but larger in length than the original. To Adrian it looked like someone had taken the hull of the _Normandy_ and had put the frigate on steroids, while changing the comm. array and stripping the forward thrusters and replacing the engines with four large antiproton thrusters with forward exhaust mounts, instead of having the _Normandy_'s 2-dimensional vectoring thrusters. Along the hull and on the prow's forward sensor array the ship next to the Cerberus insignias, the ship bore the designation _SR-2_.

"They only told me about this last night," Joker remarked as he and Adrian looked down on the _SR-2_. "It's good to be home, huh, Commander?"

Adrian nodded then grinned from ear-to-ear, he turned to Joker. "I think we'll have to give her a name,"

"Damn right, about that, Commander. You can't have a ship with no name, it would be insulting," Joker grinned as they made their way to their new home.

The elevator took them down to the access for the _SR-2_. Both Miranda and Jacob were waiting for them as they exited while Joker and Adrian were tossing back names for the _SR-2_, so far none of the names were the right one for the ship.

"So, Commander how about the _Blackbird_?" Joker suggested.

Adrian tilted his head, in contemplation before looking at Joker. "Not too bad, I kind of like it. If we can't come with any other name, we use it. How about the _Centurion_?"

Joker shook his head. "Eh… that's too turian, Commander. What about the _Shepard's Revenge_? You have to admit it does have a nice ring to it,"

"Only if this Cerberus job goes down the drain and the Council kicks me out of the Spectres and we're forced to become mercenaries or pirates then we'll call the ship that,"

"You know the _Phoenix _does also sound appropriate?" Joker suggested.

"Do explain Joker?" Adrian asked.

"Well, let see here the _Normandy_ was destroyed and now Cerberus builds a ship around the same design only bigger, sort of like the myth: a phoenix dies and is a pile of ashes, then it is reborn from the ashes," Joker explained.

"I'm surprised, Joker. You never have struck me as the type to study old Earth mythology," Adrian replied.

"Yeah, well you learn a lot of useless facts, while doing your final preparations before departure, but you do see what I'm saying with the name. Think about it, Commander. The_ Phoenix_ its perfect honor symbolize the _Normandy_," Joker looked over to Adrian was looking at the _SR-2_, before looking back at Joker.

Adrian rubbed his chin with his right hand, before snapped his fingers. "Joker, I think you're onto something,"

"What do you mean?" Joker questioned.

Adrian smiled as he looked over to the pilot, before pointing at the ship. "Because that ship is in essence a phoenix in its own right. The _Normandy_ was destroyed and now she's been reborn into a new vessel. That's what we'll call her, the _Normandy SR-2_,"

"The _Normandy_? Huh, I guess you're right, Commander. It is good to be home,"

A few hours later the _Normandy SR-2_ was ready for her departure from _Minuteman Station_. It had taken longer to make sure the _Normandy _was fully stocked and all systems were operational before leaving dry dock. Adrian watched as the final crewmembers of the _Normandy_ that Cerberus had provided boarded the frigate, before he, Miranda and Jacob boarded and sealed the airlock behind them. In the bridge of the _Normandy_, Joker was busy getting reacquainted with the ship's systems when the time came for the frigate to leave port.

Joker checked over the systems, making sure all systems were operational before the commencement of their mission. He smiled as he relaxed in the chair, as he watched the status of the ship reported in all clear. Next to his station holographic projector activated showing the blue sphere-like avatar of the _Normandy_'s artificial intelligence. Joker had been less than pleased to learn about the AI aboard the ship, he couldn't wait for Shepard's reaction to having an AI on his ship.

"All systems are clear for launch, Mr. Moreau," The AI reported.

_Damn side-ship driver_ Joker sighed, irritably as he activated the _Normandy_'s engines. Lawson, Taylor and Shepard had boarded, just as the bay doors opened revealing the open abyss of space. The docking tube retracted as the _Normandy_'s engine glowed blue as they pushed the ship out of its berthing bay in _Minuteman Station. _ The frigate gracefully soared through space before jumping to the nearest mass relay, before heading off to the Omega Nebula.

Inside the airlock of the _Normandy SR2_, Adrian along with Miranda and Jacob, waited for the standard decontamination of all foreign particles, before being allowed access to _Normandy_'s interior. The hatch leading into the main corridor opened as Jacob, Miranda and Adrian walked through the corridor lined with consoles on either side.

Adrian was wearing a set of utilities fatigues that Cerberus had provided for him, though he missed the blue Alliance utility fatigues, he guessed the Cerberus fatigues would work for now. Miranda stood to his right, looking over the command information center, looking amazed at the progress Cerberus had done in recreating the _Normandy's _CIC_. _

"Welcome aboard the new _Normandy_, Commander," Jacob announced as Adrian walked over to the galaxy map in the CIC looking at the holographic image of the _Normandy_, as Miranda cleared her throat, turning Adrian's attention to her.

"I've been looking over the dossiers. I'd strongly recommend by acquiring Mordin Solus, the salarian professor on Omega. We know the Collectors use some type of advanced technology to immobilize their victims. We'll need him to develop a countermeasure to protect us," Miranda reported.

Adrian agreed with the Cerberus operative's assessment. "Without that countermeasure, we'll be helpless if we ever run into the Collectors,"

"Acquiring Professor Solus seems like the logical place to start," a new voice behind it.

"Who are you?" Adrian asked as he turned around, seeing a blue spherical avatar appeared.

"I am the _Normandy_'s artificial intelligence. The crew likes referred to me as EDI," EDI replied.

Adrian's eyes widened as he looked at the AI with shock. "Shut that damn thing down. I don't want on my ship,"

"Have I offended?" EDI innocently asked, confused by Adrian's outburst and shock.

"Shepard spent a great deal of time fighting rogue AI. Geth, mostly, plus that incident with the Alliance's Hannibal system on Luna," Miranda answered, while EDI absorbed the information.

"Your distrust is logical, Shepard. Unlike the irrational mistrusts of most humans, however, I am not a threat to you or anyone else. I only observe and offer analysis and advice, nothing more," EDI answered with a tone of reassurance.

"Now that we've established that, we have a team to make," Adrian announced.

"Final preparations for a takeoff are complete, Commander. When you're ready to go, just pick the destination on the galaxy map in the CIC, and I'll plot in a course," Joker announced over the ship's intercom.

"Jacob and I should return to our posts, come find us if you have any questions," Miranda reported.

Adrian walked over to the command station and checked the galaxy map. He noticed the _Normandy_ was in the Omega Nebula, near the space station Omega. He looked around the CIC and watched the crew work diligently as they carried on their duties.

"Welcome aboard, Sir," a young crewmember greeted.

"Thank you and you are?" Adrian replied.

"I'm Yeoman Kelly Chambers, and I must say it's an honor to work for you, Commander. I'll alert you of any messages and I also act as a psychologist aboard this ship," Kelly informed Adrian as her green eyes shined with enthusiasm.

"A pleasure to have you onboard, Ms. Chambers," Adrian thanked.

"Please, call me Kelly," Kelly interjected.

"Okay Kelly, is there anything I should know?" Adrian inquired her.

"You have unread messages and Joker would like to see you up in the cockpit, Commander," Kelly responded.

"That'll be all," Adrian walked away, while Kelly watched him with interest.

Adrian walked down the console lined corridor to the bridge. While Joker and other crewmembers called it a cockpit, being a navy kid, he refused to acknowledge it as such and he preferred using old Earth naval terminology, despite never being on a sea ship, only starships.

Joker turned around as Adrian approached and had the look of a giddy child in a candy store. "Can you believe it, Commander? It's my girl, better than new and leather seats! Military may set the hardware standard, but on a first-gen frigate they could care less if the seats breathe. Civilian comfort by design,"

Adrian shook his head as he smiled, while EDI interjected with a matter-of-fact tone. "The reproduction is not intended to be perfect, Mr. Moreau. Seamless improvements were made,"

Joker scowled before returning his attention to Adrian. "And there's the downside. I liked the _Normandy_ when she was beautiful and quite, now she has this thing I don't walk to talk about it. It's kind of like ship cancer,"

Adrian shrugged, while the upgrades were nice. Something kept telling him, this was just the wool pulled over their eyes. "I don't trust them. This all seems a little too convenient, for my liking,"

"Maybe your right, especially when they put in an AI to spy on us," Joker begrudgingly agreed, before his face lit up with excitement. "We're staying, though, right? I mean the seat is real leather,"

"Good to see you keeping everything in perspective, Joker," Adrian commented as he turned to leave.

Joker rolled his eyes as he turned to the display behind him. "Uh, leather!"

"Right, Joker, leather seats. Radio me, when we near Omega," Adrian turned and headed down towards the armory.

In the armory Jacob was looking over a few modifications that could be used for their weapons, and would help in their fight against the Collectors. He turned when Adrian walked in looking at his armor, to see what components he could modify, or have replaced. Adrian noticed the schematics that Jacob was working on and decide to take a look.

Jacob smartly snapped off a salute, at which Adrian returned in kind. "Commander. I'm sorry there wasn't time to properly take stock of all the munitions we had. Perhaps we'll find more weapons out in the field to add to our inventory," Jacob informed Adrian. "I also want to say it's an honor to serve under your command,"

Adrian weakly smiled as the memories of his old command came racing through his mind. "You may change your tune if we end up like the original _Normandy_,"

"Maybe, but if the Illusive Man walks his talk and you do the same, I'll make sure we have a fighting chance to pull through. That's been the conditions for my service with Cerberus for years, sense I do take issue with some of the group's actions in the past," Jacob countered.

"Carry on Lt. Taylor," Adrian ordered as he left the armory.

Adrian left the armory, feeling the fatigue that plagued his body, knowing they were about four hours out from Omega. He decided it would be wise to rest up and recover his strength while he could before jumping into the fray once more, especially if what the rumors about Omega were true, it wouldn't be wise to be half-exhausted on the so-called capital of the Terminus. Stepping into the elevator, he actually found it nice to have a deck to his own. His quarters were larger than the quarters he had original _Normandy_, apart from the desks, bed, sofa, table and the large, but empty fish tank and the lone model of the _Normandy_ _SR2 _in the display case, the room was quite spartan in terms of interior décor. He sighed as walked to the foot of the bed and landed face first into the mattress. Perhaps this time around the _Normandy_ wouldn't be destroyed like its namesake, as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, with the electronic ticking of the holo-clock being the only noise heard from the silent interior.


End file.
